ring pincushion

As promised the little pincusion from thrifty thursday:

If memory serves me right, I saw these on WiseCraft a long time ago. If I'm wrong, please let me know in the comments. (I found this tutorial, but it's not the post I saw first.) They're made from the pull tabs on juice cartons. I just used a large yo-yo maker and some of my precious Liberty fabric to put running stitches along the edge of a circle of fabric. Instead of pulling it taught to make a flat yo-yo, I stuffed it with fiberfill, then inserted the disc part of the pull tab. Once that was in place, the threads were pulled tight and knotted off. (The knot is not centered over the plastic disc - more to one side.)

Slip the ring portion over your finger and viola! Just enough pins for a small project while watching television. If the ring is too tight, just snip it with scissors. It'll still hold onto your finger just like those bat rings at Halloween.

crocheted handbag

I wish I could take credit for the work on the bag, but my Grandma Bev did all the crochet work. She even lined it. All I'm responible for is the easy yo-yo work on the front.

I was going for an Anthropoligie vibe. Some of the scraps are vintage, some just appealed to me because of color or print. What do you think, blackbird? Does it even come close?

It does seem to match just about everything, so I know it'll get used this summer.

yo-yo puppy

As I mentioned yesterday, Ellie is getting a big Christmas surprise this year. In an effort to take the pressure off with other gifts, I'm starting to put away handmade items for the other two(though I have no idea what I'm making Glenn this year.). This puppy was orginally started a year ago with Ellie and I working on it together. However, I seriously overestimated her attention span for something like this. I think she made 3 yo-yos before bailing out on me. The idea had been that she'd give it to Trixie as a gift from her. When Christmas came and went, I figured it would work for Trixie's birthday - in August. No amount of coaxing could interest Ellie to start up again. (I say coaxing, but some threats may have been involved.)

Now it's going to be a present from me.

The pattern is from Indygo Junction. Yes, I used those wonderful yo-yo makers from Clover.

I wish I could take credit for putting the fabrics together, but I bought them as a fat quarter set from the shop.

what i did on my summer vacation

I was hoping I'd be able to post a finished cross stitch project after spending 40 hours driving to and from Maine, but I didn't even touch the one I'd packed. It seems when there's something that requires so much time to finish, I'm far more interested in anything else.

Here's a little of what I did finish(with a few more things to post tomorrow and Wednesday).

A favorite pencil case of mine - At least a year ago I spilled something on it. Spot cleaning got a bit out, but then there were some lovely water rings to contend with. Now they're hidden underneath a spray of yo-yo's.

This came as a kit from Joann's in the clearance bin. (Carol, I think I sent this one to you, or one like it.) It's sat around my sewing room for ages. Now I know why. I wasn't so much interested in the fabrics in the kit, but I figured once I saw how it went together I could use the template to make the flowers out of fabric that was of more interest to me. Not sure I'll bother though. I look at it and think, "meh". Not horrible. Not great. I might try pinning it to my black winter coat and see if that gives it any life. Perhaps a few more tucks here and there to give it more dimension. I still prefer the flower pin pattern that's included in the Amy Butler Madison Bag pattern.

(Now that I've thought more about it, I think the fact that this pattern doesn't cut the petals individually makes the difference. It's all too flat. When I can sew them together one at a time, I can shape them more realistically.)

More to come - a mini foray into knitting(emphasis on "mini") and a new tool I'm trying to figure out.

and a top to match

Yet another idea from the same yo-yo book. The best part - the bouquet hides a small stain. I think I'm done with yo-yos for a bit. On to the next projects - my embroidery hoops have been calling to me.

yo yo capris

What do you do when your kid continues to grow taller, but not wider? I'm hoping to get another season or two of wear out of Ellie's jeans by turning them into capris. This idea came from the same book as the yo yo tank top. I'm still working on the coordinating shirt embellishments.


There's a pile of fabric waiting to be cut for several projects in my sewing room, but the weather is so nice that I had to get started on some other projects this weekend. I'm guessing you don't care to see pictures of a large bag of weeds that got pulled or a freshly painted, brown mudroom floor.

yo-yo top

I'm working on some ideas for future classes. This one's from a book called Yo-Yo Fashions by Amy Barickman for Indygo Junction.

A machine isn't needed which gives it good potential for a kids' class. I have no desire to work with a roomful of 8-10 year olds and sewing machines. The potential for disaster is too high.

I used the large Clover yo-yo maker and hand sewed all of them onto a shirt purchased from Target. (The link will take you to more project ideas from Clover.)

Now we just need last week's warm weather to return so Ellie can wear it.